I'd call them twice a day, just to bug them. They will get tired of hearing from you and hopefully finish this in a more timely manner.

 

Working at a shop, I can tell you sometimes engine/headgasket jobs have taken us a few months because we couldn't source the proper parts and dealerships had them on backorder.

Barring parts issues, you'd think if theres one guy at the dealership thats certified to work on those, he'd want to do the job in its duration, not 30mins daily. I hate having to step from one job to the next with the first job unfinished.

 

Totally uncool, keep calling them but don't be a jerk, you need your car back but you don't want it thrown together.

 

Damn a few months, that is simply unacceptable. If it takes a few months to get parts for a head gasket I'd demand a new car. I know Subaru is terrible about stocking parts, and then charge an arm and a leg for little plastic clips (did I buy an Audi?) but that is insanity at it's finest.

 

Yeah, but it could be a single key part that keeps you from finishing the job. So I understand on their side, but on the other side of that, they should be communicating to you WHY it is taking this long.

 

4 weeks? at our dealership they make sure all the parts are here before they start on your car, and we give you a Subaru as a rental.... keep calling them.

 

So I spoke to the service writer and he said the motor was put back together and the car is running smoothly. BUT, there is now a CEL for a misfire. They're going to drive it some and hopefully it's a "phantom code" he said. Best case scenario I might have it back tomorrow. Worst case scenario they have to tear it apart again. WTH, lol is all I can do right now.

 

Yea well sourcing parts for a Suzuki is tough. A fuel pump took me almost 3 weeks to get from the dealership so yes it took us almost a month to do a fuel pump

Just keeps getting better and better

 

OP I was going to suggest you go talk to them. A lot of the posts in here sound like people have not had a lot of work done on automobiles. Especially these days when no one wants to keep parts in stock, the stupidest thing can hold up a job for the longest time.

I usually do my own work, but the last few years I have not been able to, so I have my cars at shops. This is why I have a daily driver now, because sometimes "things happen" and your car can be gone for a long time. The worst case for me was when Winn VW had my 2004 VW R32 for almost 5 months to replace a transmission under warranty. I literally went and bought a Toyota to drive around in after a while because, let's re-visit why I have a car again...

But that is the way it goes. Throwing a fit, calling them every day or doing anything like that does not seem like it would help. Demanding that they hand over a car that could be partially torn apart does not even make any sense and I cannot imagine how someone would think that would help anything.

That is not really practical, possible, or wise.

Working on cars yourself, surely you are more understanding than that.

That is something you would do only in extreme circumstances, and you do so knowing that you may not end up with your entire car, and that mad people slapped it together to the point it was at. I have dealt with some shady **** and have never gotten to this point. This is not extreme circumstances by any means.

A loaner? Then what's the problem? I mean, assuming that the time taken to do the work is not actually excessive, but only perceived as such.

Absolutely not a good plan.

Yep.

For all we know, it could be totally understandable. Calling them just to annoy them will do no one any good.

So you'd demand a new car. Ok.

Totally agreed.

Oh sweet, what planet is this on?

Anyone that has worked on a Subaru before would probably see this is totally normal. I know it sucks to have the car away for a long time, especially if it seems like too long, but it could be completely valid reasons.

I have a friend who is a mechanic, and I used to send friends to him - but I don't any more because of people's warped perceptions on auto repair. I had one friend complain about the bill after a whole bunch of work. His reasoning was that it was a small car so it shouldn't cost so much. This is not too far away from assuming that a repair will take a certain length of time based on zero knowledge of the situation, what is involved in sourcing the parts, and all that.

I do feel like the customer should not have to know about all of this stuff, but that is the world we live in today. In the rare situation mentioned above where a dealer would source all the parts needed before starting, things still come up that you can only detect once it's torn apart, and maybe it's one of those parts that holds up the job.

I can't remember the last time I dropped a car off anywhere for anything and had it done in under a week, and I am not talking about major engine surgery here. If I dropped off a Subaru - let alone a 3.6 powered car - for a HG, I would not expect to see it back for a LONG time.

Best of luck with your car, and I hope they get it back to you before too long. It's great that you have a loaner - this is why I have a DD.

 

Wombat- Yea if I had a new car under warranty and it took 3-4 months to make it (dealer warranty work) for a part I don't think it would be hard to get rid of the car and pretty reasonable.

In the op's case yea that sucks they don't have the parts, and I think pretty ****ed up on subaru's part for continuing to make the cars seem like Exotics when ordering parts. That being said, I would not complain in the slightest if I was you. You got a loaner car, but most importantly the dealer found a problem with your engine on their OWN and started to fix it! This to me shows the dealer is doing the best they can despite subaru, and you should be happy.

 

I was going to ask, this is a 3.0 or 3.6? Guessing parts aren't' so easy to come by for either of those.

 

I would start looking into this just incase you are having the same issue with the same problem

FAQs About California Lemon Law

 

Thanks for the input fellas. The service writer did mention it was more difficult to work on the H6 vs. the 2.5/2.0 engines. I never expected it to take this long. When I dropped off the car, he made it seem like it would be only a few days to complete the job. So as long as the repair work is done completely and correctly, I'll be satisfied.

Until then, I've got the loaner so I'll enjoy not putting miles on my own car.

 

What's up gabe! Good to see you are still in a subie haha

That black 07 sedan you saw when we met at tanforan just had the hg/timing belt service done (including sending the heads to the machine shop) in two days, so regardless the job should have been done even if only one tech can work on it

Good luck with your situation

 

Glad you got a loaner. Talk to them, mention that you don't understand what took so long and that you would like to understand. I know it sucks to be without a car. It's not just that it's a somewhat rare car that they do not get as much, but also because of that, not a lot of the parts are going to be in stock. Since your car was already there when the problem was discovered, they could not order up all the parts ahead of time for the appointment, etc.

I hope you get it back soon.



Different car/different situation/probably different shop. How long it takes one shop to work on an EJ25 in one specific situation has nothing to do with what a Subaru Dealer takes to do work on an EZ36 in another different situation. You have no idea what it takes to do a HG on an EZ36, what parts were replaced and what was on back-order or in short supply, what the shop's schedule was like, what factors really made it take this long, etc etc etc.